Happy Earth Day!
Days of Rain Report:

Thank you for participating in our Days of Rain Earth Day Campaign!
 
We kicked-off the campaign with a strong start, with nearly 500 emails sent to Michael Ignatieff and David McGuinty demanding the Liberal Party support the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311).  Shortly after the emails started to pour in, Ignatieff announced the Liberal Party will support the bill when it comes to a final vote in the next month or so. Way to go!
 
Only a few days later, the National Energy Board and Environment Minister Jim Prentice were shocked to receive a flood of your emails demanding the enforcement of the 176 recommendations on the sustainable development of the MacKenzie Valley Gas Pipeline. 
 
Last week we turned our attention to Canada's crime against humanity -- peddling asbestos in developing countries where thousands of workers are developing terrible asbestos-induced cancers and diseases. Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis received more than 400 of your emails in response to the shocking news that that his department is funding the asbestos industry to the tune of $250,000/year -- while at the same time cutting the immensely popular ecoENERGY retrofit program. Minister Paradis now knows hundreds of Canadians are outraged.
 
With your help, 'Days of Rain' has been a successful experiment. Clearly you are interested and willing to get involved, but we have all earned a rest. With today's 40th Anniversary of Earth Day celebrations, take a minute to pat yourself on the back for all that you do year-round to help preserve the environment.
 
Take a break, and in a week or two we'll be in touch to help us save Canada's Environmental Assessment Act.
 
Again thanks for participating!

They say March winds bring April showers. 
Will you help make some rain with Sierra Club Canada?

Forty years ago the very first Earth Day kicked off the age of environmentalism with a series of teach-ins and workshops. Earth Day has now become a day to celebrate the achievements of a generation of activism.   Yet, we live in a time and place where the goals of the thousands who turned out in 1970 are under daily attack. Government and industry are systematically dismantling the laws and regulations created to protect the environment.

What better way of celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day than to spend the month of April getting back into the spirit of 1970 by raining a shower of protest against environmental injustices nationwide!

This is how Sierra Club Canada proposes to celebrate Earth Day:

Every few days in April we'll send out a Sierra Club Action Alert. Each alert will ask you to visit our web site to compose and send an email.

Some of the issues will be "big picture" - demands for federal legislation to stop global warming, improve the environmental assessment process, and clean up the tar sands.

Some will be local - preventing a gas station from being built in a wetland in Comox, BC and stopping a proposed tailings pond in Newfoundland from destroying a pristine lake.

By Earth Day you will share a coast-to-coast understanding of what is happening to our environment. We will also have made a strong impression on the decision makers in this country.

We have some projects already picked out, but Sierra Club Canada is a democratic organization and we want to hear from you. Let us know what you think!

With the kind of rain we're going to bring down together, imagine what flowers could bloom in May!

Rain Day #3: Money for asbestos lobby group but not for energy efficient homes?

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated in the continuing campaign to pass the Climate Change Accountability Act, Bill C-311.  Your emails made the difference and the bill has now moved into 3rd reading! Michael Ignatieff has said that the Liberals will support the bill in the final vote.

This "Days of Rain" action alert is a two-for-one - you can double the rain!
 
Just before Easter, on the same day new fuel economy standards for cars were being announced with great fanfare, we learned that the very popular and successful ecoENERGY program would be cut by the federal government.
 
Thousands of Canadian homes have been made more efficient and greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced through this important program, but only a tiny percentage of the millions of homes in Canada have had the opportunity to get renovated.
 
Several provinces designed programs to work hand-in-hand with the ecoENERGY program -- these programs are now in jeopardy since they were not given any notice of the cuts.
 
No reason has been given for canceling the ecoENERGY program. As usual with the present government, an important climate change program is being quietly allowed to disappear.
 
Meanwhile….Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources, and overseer of the ecoENERGY program recently appeared before a Parliamentary Committee to lobby for the asbestos industry.  With a straight face he said asbestos is safe.
 
So safe that he is writing the asbestos lobby group a $250,000 cheque to help these merchants of death sell their product in developing countries. Thousands of Canadians are still suffering and dying from asbestos induced diseases, one of the most documented workplace health hazards. The evidence is clear that no country, including Canada, has succeeded in handling asbestos safely. In developing countries, the situation is even worse, since there is virtually no enforcement of the so-called "safe use" protocols. (For more info click here)
 
Please let Minister Paradis know you want the ecoENERGY program, not asbestos subsidies! (click here to send your message using our conveinent email form.)

Rain Day #2: Mackenzie Valley Pipeline

The NEB has an opportunity to get serious about sustainability of ecosystems and communities in the Mackenzie Valley as it considers a possible license for the Mackenzie Gas Project in hearings this week.
 
Take action by emailing Environment Minister Jim Prentice  and the NEB this week to tell them that natural gas from the Mackenzie Valley should replace, not augment, the expansion of polluting tar sands projects and coal mines. They need to hear that Canadians want northern gas to be used only as a transition fuel to a low-carbon Canadian economy. 
 
Big Oil does not need or deserve additional federal subsidies. Imperial Oil and Exxon Mobil (the world's richest oil company) continue to press the federal government for $2 billion in Canadian subsidies for the ecologically dangerous Mackenzie Gas Project. Big Oil has been subsidized long enough by our governments. The wealthiest companies in the world don't need more of the taxes you pay so they can make themselves even richer.
 
Click here to use our convenient email tool to send a message to Minister Prentice and the NEB. You can find more information about the Mackenzie Valley and our tar sands campaign work.

 

Rain Day #1: C-311: A Global Warming Test for All Parties

Our first Rain Day action is focused on the April 14th vote on Bill C-311, the Climate Change Accountability Act.

This law would require the Government of Canada to set greenhouse gas emission targets based on what is required to avert catastrophic climate change. It is a private member's bill originally introduced by Jack Layton with the support of the Liberals and the Bloc before the 2008 election.

Sierra Club Canada and 40 other organizations wrote to all Members of Parliament last year urging them to vote for the bill so Canada could go to the Copenhagen Climate Summit with science-based targets and resume its leadership role. To all our shock and dismay, the Liberals voted with the Government to delay the bill until after Copenhagen.

We have to convince the Liberals to resume their support for the bill before April 14th. We must make it clear that this isn't an issue where waffling is acceptable.

Sierra Club Canada is urging all Canadians to email and/or call Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff before April 14th.

To learn more about the bill and to send an email from our convenient form, please click here

Also, please forward this email to any of your contacts who might be willing to help by sending an email of their own. The more people who show their support for the bill, the more pressure we can put on the Liberals to pass it into law.

Let's make it rain!